PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: cathcil@cathcil.org
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I, HIS HOLINESS SHENOUDA III AND HIS HOLINESS ZAKKA I SIGN
A COMMON DECLARATION IN CAIRO

Antelias, Lebanon – The seventh meeting of the Heads of the Oriental
Orthodox Churches in the Middle East, the Coptic Church, the Syrian Church
and the Armenian Church, took place in Cairo, Egypt on 21 Oct 2004. The
meeting of the standing committee representing the three churches preceded
the meeting of the Heads of the Churches.

In a Common Declaration His Holiness Pope Shnouda III, His Holiness Mar
Ignatius Zakka I, and His Holiness Aram I gave thanks to God for the unity
that their churches have witnessed for many centuries and their common
commitment to the mission of the church of God. Bilateral theological
dialogues were given an important place in the Common Declaration. They
stressed the need to resume the Theological Dialogue between the Oriental
Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox churches. As for the Dialogue with the
Roman Catholic church, which started last year, they expressed their deep
concern for the use of the word “Catholicosate” used by the Armenian
Catholic Patriarchate, and they decided to raise this matter this time
formally through their representatives with the Vatican authorities with the
a clear understanding that “if this problem is not solved, our churches will
not participate in the official theological dialogue with the Catholic
church”. Referring to the Dialogue with the Anglican World communion that
was suspended by these churches, due to the ordination of an Anglican gay
bishop in the USA, the Heads of the churches reiterated their concern and
the position of their churches that “all practice and behavior related to
marriage and sexual orientation must be in accord with the biblical and
moral teachings of our Churches. We hope that in the near future the
Anglican Communion will solve this matter which will enable us to resume our
theological dialogue with the Anglican Communion”.

In the context of intra-Oriental family collaboration, the Spiritual Leaders
emphasized the need for a greater collaboration among the churches of the
Family in different eras of church life. They expressed deep concern in
respect to the “manipulating activities” of sects “against the Orthodox
Christian faith, supported by huge financial resources coming from the West,
with suspected Zionist support”. The Common Declaration also highlighted
various aspects of ecumenical collaboration. In this context they singled
out the importance of the World Council of Churches and the Middle East
Council of Churches. The growing collaboration with the United Bible
Societies was welcomed considering this partnership important for the
witness of their churches.

The Heads of the Churches renewed “the commitment of their churches to peace
with justice”. They condemned “All forms and expression of violence and
urged all to engage in processes and actions aimed at conflict resolution
through mutual love, respect and trust”. Speaking about the situation in the
Middle East they said: “The escalation of violence and confusion in Iraq
worries us, in this situation, this country is losing its people either by
killing or immigration. We urge all the citizens of Iraq of all religions
and cultures to feel their responsibility towards their country and one
another. We call on all nations to help the people of Iraq to restore their
country to its independence and sovereignty with the full participation of
all Muslim and Christian communities in Iraq. We renew our call to return to
the peace process with a particular focus on the establishment of a
Palestinian state and the right to return for the Palestinians. True and
lasting peace will only be realized when justice and dignity is upheld and
maintained and when Israel according to U.N. Security Council Resolutions
withdraw from Arab and Palestinian territories”.

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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.